


A Place Where Time Stands Still

by belle1316



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Reylo - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21973003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belle1316/pseuds/belle1316
Summary: TROS fix-it fic. Ben lives. He and Rey deal with the aftermath and hunt for a place to find peace and be together.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how long this fic will be, but I wanted this ship to have a happy ending.

There was darkness. Everything was still. No sound. No air. No feeling. It should have been peaceful, instead, it felt empty.  
Then there was tugging. First, it was like one thread lightly pulling on her, then two, then hundreds, thousands of threads pulling her upward. Where there was darkness, a white light replaced it, dim at first but growing brighter the more the threads pulled her.  
Rey was then jerked to a stop. She was no longer suspended in anything, she felt settled. The light that surrounded her faded away. Everything began to come back. Palpatine, her parents, the Resistance, Ben. Her vision was blurry but she could feel her body again. An ache in her head, a throbbing in her shoulder, and pressure and warmth on her stomach. She reached for the warmth and felt skin where she placed her hand.  
Rey blinked as her vision came to focus. Ben.  
Rey sat up as she took in the face of the man who fought beside her, who saved her. She hadn’t been sure when he showed up through the bond and then appeared beside her if Ben was completely there. He had helped her before but continued to act like Kylo Ren. But as she looked at him now, Rey was sure. Before there was so much pain and anger in his brown eyes, he always wore such a fierce expression.  
Now the man in front of her had such soft eyes. They were clear and hopeful and...happy.  
Rey sat up quickly almost bewildered at the person she saw in front of her. She thought she had truly seen Ben Solo before through the force bond and in the throne room, but she felt through the force that there had still been so much conflict within him. Rey searched through the force to find him once again, her eyes never leaving his always intense gaze, and found nothing but peace.  
Rey unconsciously reached up to touch his face, a smile forming on her face.  
“Ben,” She said, confirming what she already knew.  
Slowly, a smile formed over his face. In awe, Rey traced his bottom lip which only caused Ben’s smile to widen. Rey could no longer resist the feelings she had pushed aside for so long. She pushed herself up to her knees, holding his face in between her hands she placed her lips on his. She felt Ben wrap his arm around her waist, pressing her closer to him. Rey poured all she could into the kiss, giving him little doses of the life force he gave back so that he would not be so weak. Ben’s lips were so soft. She could taste the salt from tears, his or hers she wasn’t sure. She broke away to look at him again, still in disbelief that Ben was here, he was here, and they made it, it was over. Rey smiled, earning a brilliant smile from Ben in return that made her heart soar.  
Boom!  
Rey and Ben turned their heads towards the sound of crashing to see the stone walls of the Emperor’s lair crumble further.  
“Let’s go,” Ben said, grabbing her by the shoulders to raise her up.  
There was more crashing coming from within the lair and from above. Rey looked above her to see the resistance pulling back while the Emperor’s fleet went down in bursts of flame.  
“Come on,” Ben said, urging her once again.  
They wrapped their arms around each other to support themselves as they hurried out of the collapsing structure. They made it out just in time to turn and see the dark fortress, the last remnants of the Sith, collapse.  
Rey looked up at Ben with so many questions in her head. Ben raised his hand to cradle her face.  
“What do we do now?”She asked, leaning into his palm.  
“Well,” he started. “I don’t really know. I figure we should get the hell off of this planet first and then figure out the rest.”  
Rey nodded and began to walk towards the X-wing she brought, still holding Ben’s hand.  
“We’ll go to the Resistance base and figure things out there.”  
She felt a tug on her hand and looked back to see Ben hesitating.  
“I can’t go to the Resistance, Rey.”  
“Of course you can. It’s all over now.”  
Ben looked down at his feet quickly before giving her a sad smile.  
“They wouldn’t want me there.”  
Realization dawned on Rey.  
“There are only a few people who truly saw you without the mask or know who you are,” she reasoned. “It’ll be fine.”  
Ben shook his head, “You’re friends wouldn’t appreciate it.”  
“Ben, they’re good people. Once we explain everything, how you’ve changed, they’ll understand.”  
“Sometimes it doesn’t matter how good people are or how much people have changed. Some things can’t be forgiven or forgotten.”  
Rey bit her lip. “We won’t know unless we try. The worse they could do is-”  
“Kill me.” Ben finished ruefully.  
“I was going to say tell you to leave.”  
Ben sighed. He looked up at the sky where the Resistance fleet was finishing off the last of the First Order.  
“The least they can do is let you see your mother.”  
Rey’s heart broke as she saw the sadness of his mother’s loss overcome his expression.  
“Alright, we’ll give it a try.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Rey arrive at the Resistance base and Ben says goodbye to his mother.

Rey had gone into her X-wing with Ben following in her a Tie fighter. He wouldn’t be the only one as it seemed that several others manning Tie fighters for the First Order had switched sides in the midst of battle and were now currently retreating along with the Resistance.   
She could feel his anxiety through their bond as they landed on the jungle moon that had become the Resistance base.   
As Rey went through the motions of shutting down her ship, she glanced up to see Finn and Poe just a few yards away. Rey felt excitement and relief wash over her as she jumped out of her ship and crossed the field to them. The men caught sight of her as she walked towards them and met her halfway through the field and took her in an embrace.   
Rey basked in the warmth and joy that radiated from her friends. The three of them stood there, arms wrapped around each other. Just as Rey was going to pull away and greet her friends, Poe jerked back and almost pushed her out of the way.   
“Stop, right there!” Poe shouted, pulling out his blaster and drawing attention.   
Rey turned to see Ben standing a few feet away with his hands raised looking resigned. Rey panicked as she noticed a few others reaching for their weapons in defensive stances.   
“No!” Rey shouted, knocking the blaster out of Poe’s hand.   
“Rey, what the hell?” Poe exclaimed.   
“He’s with me.”  
“With you?” Finn questioned. “He tried to kill you a few days ago.”  
“It wasn’t like that.” Rey shook her head trying to explain. “He wasn’t with the First Order anymore, not really.”  
“Another spy,” Finn spat. “I don’t buy it this guy was the Supreme Leader. He-”  
“He’s not Kylo Ren anymore.”  
Finn went up to Rey and put his hands on her shoulders. “Rey, I don’t know what he told you, but people like him don’t just change like that.”  
“Finn, it’s complicated,” Rey shook her head struggling to find a way to explain. She should have thought about this more. What to say to them. How to explain that when it comes to the force, those who are extremely sensitive like her and Ben and his family, the pull between light and dark is so complicated that sometimes it turns someone into two people.  
“Finn, just look through the force,” Rey said.   
Finn looked at her startled.   
“I know you’re sensitive. I felt it when it awakened in you when you realized it. Feel him through the force and you’ll understand.”  
Finn blinked and looked back up at Ben behind her trying to focus.   
“What do you want?” Poe addressed Ben.  
“I’m just here to be with Rey and see my mother,” Ben said, his hands still up in the air.   
“Leia’s dead,” Poe told him, voice cracking.  
“I know,” Ben replied mournfully. “I just want to see her. Even me of all people should be allowed to see his mother one last time.”  
Poe’s shoulders slumped. He nodded and gestured for Ben to follow him. As Ben passed to follow Poe, Finn watched him curiously.   
“There’s light.” He muttered, more to himself than to Rey.   
Rey nodded. “His journey with the force has been more of a struggle than any of ours. He’s been manipulated for his power time and time again, but he finally made a choice.”  
“He chose the light.” Finn finished her train of thought. Rey nodded.  
“He didn’t change. He made a choice. His strength overcame the dark. And that’s your first lesson.”  
Finn looked down at Rey again.   
“Within the force, we all have a choice to make,” She said, before turning from him to follow Ben and Poe.   
When she got to the little cave that served as her Master’s final resting place, Ben was on his knees simply staring at her sheet-covered body.   
“Ben,” Rey stood behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. She did not need to use the force to feel the sorrow and regret coming from him. Even Poe who was still sightly wary bowed his head in respect as he stood off to the side outside the room.   
Ben still sat on his knees, shaking, staring at his mother’s body.   
Rey stepped over to the side and reached to pull back the sheet over Leia’s body. As she did so, Ben took a shaky breath.  
“Mom.”  
Rey kneeled beside him, watching him. She took in his broken expression and thought back to the joyful smile he had when they kissed on Exegol just a few hours ago and how she would do anything to bring the smile back to his face. She wrapped herself around his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, offering support the only way she could think of.  
They sat there for some time, kneeling in front of Leia, grieving. The light on the jungle moon began to fade, telling them how long they had been there.   
Ben released a breath before leaning forward and combing his mother’s hair back with his fingers.  
“Thank you,” he whispered. The bond opened and Rey could hear Leia’s voice calling out for Ben and then a manifestation of memories that he had of his father that she projected for him, to show that his father had already forgiven him that same moment. Rey felt overwhelmed. She had felt his conflict through there bond, but this was the first time she truly felt the turmoil that he had felt. The guilt and shame. Sorrow and despair.   
“I thought there was no going back after I killed him,” Ben said, reading her emotions. “After I did it I wanted so badly to go home. I wanted to go home.”   
Rey let her tears flow down her face freely.   
“I just wanted it all to be over. But I killed my own father, how could I possibly come back from that. How could she look at me the same?” He said nodding to his mother. “But even though she called out to me, I still couldn’t believe that she still wanted me, until she showed me, my dad. I don’t know it-” He chuckled. “She always used to say he got under her skin so much that she knew what he felt and what he was thinking even when he was away, so I guess she would know how he felt. What he would say.”   
Rey nodded in understanding.   
Ben lowered his head and kissed his mother’s forehead, a final goodbye.   
Then slowly Leia’s body began to fade. Ben and Rey looked on awe as she became one with the force.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go with the idea that Leia was the one that kind of manipulated Ben's memories to let him know that Han still loved him and forgave him as he couldn't show up as a force ghost. I also wanted Ben to truly make peace with his mother's death, before anything else, and open up about his struggle.


End file.
